Move Out

Move out

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. This I command you, that you love one another. (John 15:11-17 NASB)

I am sad today because it is time for me to go.

My job takes me away from home, away from friends, away from my church family.

I don't want to go this time. I don't want to leave all of that.

I like my job....a lot.

I have friends all over the place.

My family stays in contact.

My good friends stay in contact.

But being away is not the same as being near.

I guess the scripture above that tells me that God chose me to "Go, and bear fruit, fruit that will remain,"  is the part that I must be obedient to right now.

I know that God is using me and my husband as we travel and visit other congregations. 

Whew probably would not have been started if I wasn't traveling.

I know I NEED TO SERVE God in a much deeper more fulfilling way than what I used to. I feel like He is working through me and moving me past what I was comfortable with. 

I want to please Him first. Then my needs, wants and desires can be met.

Pray for me as I go back on the road. Encourage me with your words and prayers. 

And I will pray for and encourage you as well.

Move out of your comfort zone. Seek God's plan for your life. It won't be easy or comfortable. If it is......you may not be putting enough of yourself into it.

Move out! Move out for The Lord. Someone out there needs you. 

Can you spare a dime?

Sister, can you spare a dime?

Are you a tightwad? Are you a spender? 

Someone once said that if you want to see where your heart really is, look at the register in your checkbook. Look at the last ten entries of your checkbook. What is it that you are spending your money on? In what things do you place value?

Well, I actually did this and you know what? Out of my last ten entries, 5 of the ten were written out to Walmart. 

Most of that was food. Because of living in a truck and having limited refrigerator and storage space we shop often. But still, half of our spending is done at the Walmart!

My daddy told me when we were first married that if our house payment or car payments were more than our tithes and offerings that we needed to rethink our choices. And I believe that he is right on that matter.

Yes, what  you spend your money on is what  you value. 

The Bible says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 NASB)

 While wondering in the desert and God gave instructions to Moses for the building of the tabernacle, the people were excited and eager to help. Listen:

Then Moses brought together these workers who were eager to work,  and he gave them the gifts that the people of Israel had donated for building the place of worship. In fact, so much was being given each morning, that finally everyone stopped working and said, “Moses, there is already more than we need for what the Lord has assigned us to do.” So Moses sent word for the people to stop giving, and they did. But there was already more than enough to do what needed to be done. (Exodus 36:2-7 CEV)

They needed to be told to stop giving!   They had brought too much.  We like to criticize the grumbling Israelites but wouldn't it be great if we could match them in their eagerness to give to The Lord?

What if each of us brought so much time, effort and money to the service of The Lord that we had to be told to stop because it was too much.

Imagine the impact on the community and the world if Christians truly cared that much.

One day at a time

Very often I will get myself all tangled up in planning the next few days or events. 

By nature I am a planner and a very organized person. So it follows then that I am always looking past the present and on to the next thing.

But sadly, because of this behavior I am not in the now. In my head once this moment is here my brain is planning for the next.

It can be a very useful talent if I am involved in a project. I can be counted on to have my end done and finished up and then already thinking ahead about other things that might to be thought about and completed. 

However, too often, I can lose the joy of the moment because mentally I am not here. 

I do not want this talent to be taken away from me, and I do consider it a talent, but at the same time, I can not be dominated by the future, by my planning, by my organizing that I get overwhelmed when plans do not filter down the way I had planned them. 

Sometimes God throws up obstacles just to slow me down. Sometimes I have to pray and ask God to slow me down. 

Sometimes I need to remember the words of the song, "One day at a time."

One day at a time

I'm only human, I'm just a man/woman

Help me believe in what I could be

And all that I am

Show me the stairway I have to climb

Lord for my sake, help me to take

One day at a time

One day at a time sweet Jesus

That's all I'm askin' of you

Just give me the strength

To do every day what I have to do

Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus

And tomorrow may never be mine

Lord, help me today, show me the way

One day at a time

Do you remember when you walked among men

Well Jesus you know

If you're lookin' below, it's worse now than then

Pushin' and shovin' and crowdin' my mind

So for my sake, teach me to take

One day at a time

One day at a time sweet Jesus

That's all I'm askin' of you

Just give me the strength

To do every day what I have to do

Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus

And tomorrow may never be mine

Lord, help me today, show me the way

One day at a time

++++++++++

ALTERNATE 2nd VERSE:

Do you remember, when you walked among men

Well Jesus you know if you're looking below

It's worse now, than then

Cheating and stealing, violence and crime

So for my sake, teach me to take

One day at a time

Cotton

I was cleaning out my truck when I got home and I found the stem of cotton that I picked out of the field once while driving through California.

I never saw cotton fields until I began driving truck and I surely had never seen and up close.

We see many fields now as we travel and we see huge bales of the stuff during harvest season.

Anyway while putting my things away I was showing it to Starla and telling her to feel how very  soft it was and how there was  substance to the balls of cotton.

She asked, "so who cleans this stuff?"

I told her that everything is done mechanically nowadays but it used to take many workers to clear a field of cotton.

And just like the scripture in the picture below, the harvest of souls takes many workers. Even with TV preachers, electronic Bibles and all the modern day gadgets, winning people to The Lord takes humanity. 

Everywhere in the Scriptures when people are brought to Jesus it is because someone else brought them.

And when Jesus healed and met people personally They always went away telling others.

Do you tell others what Jesus has done for you? God needs workers for the Kingdom.  Everyone can have a part, everyone should have a part. Grab your hoe, grab your water can, get your work boots, and gloves. Or maybe just a Bible and your own story. And get going.

Content

But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6

This is the verse on the verse of the day calendar. In this context Paul is basically telling Timothy that you should not be preaching for the monetary gain. 

It is hard for me to imagine that some people would preach just for the money. I am not naive, though, I do believe that they exist. I also believe that many people are being so misled not to mention robbed by these people. Shame, shame, shame on them!

But Paul goes on to tell Timothy that there is a great gain in being godly. As Christians we can be rich in spirit if we learn contentment.

If we learn to trust God and live according to the means that He provides us, we can have riches and peace in our hearts that worldly, undisciplined people don't have.

I believe that people that are unhappy because they are poor financially wouldn't be happier if they had money. Because true happiness, true inner peace has nothing to do with money, but with attitude. Really some of the happiest, most generous people have very little material wealth. 

These are the next two verses:

For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.

 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. (1 Timothy 6:7-8 NASB)

If given a choice which would you choose, wealth or happiness? 

W.a.i.t.i.n.g!

Oh, how I hate waiting; waiting in line, waiting in traffic, waiting for someone, waiting for the mail, waiting for vacation. Ugh! I cannot hardly stand to wait.

But on the other hand, the pessimist in me believes that the sooner it gets here the sooner it's gone. It's almost like I just won't be happy.

I am not a patient waiter. I want to be. I would like to savor the upcoming moment by enjoying the wait. I would like to think that the waiting is the best part. 

I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this affliction. There must be others besides me that also hate to wait.

God is teaching me to wait. I actually wonders if He giggles when He gives me situations that try my patience. 

The thing is, I know that His timing is always right. I have learned time and time again that I am most always rewarded favorably when I wait on The Lord. 

Yet, I want what I want when I want it. Don't you?

Abraham Lincoln said, "Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle" 

Woodrow Wilson said, "All things come to him who waits – provided he knows what he is waiting for."

Apparently they didn't like waiting either.

But God knows that waiting is good training for us. It is a test of our faith. It teaches us patience. It keeps us humble. It makes us realize that God has ultimate control. And it makes the joy of the arrival so much better.

God is patient with us. He waits over and over again for us to get it right and do right.

Let us joyfully wait for The Lord. His blessings are worth waiting for.

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. (Psalms 130:5, 6 NASB)

Words can hurt

I woke up very early this morning. I felt a little strange and like something didn't feel quite right. I knew that I had gone to bed early and should be feeling refreshed.

Then I recalled a dream. Once I began to remember it, I remembered it completely. In my dream someone unintentionally hurt my feelings.

We were at a celebration event, a lot was going on there and this woman (innocently) said something directly to me that hurt me. This woman does not know me very well, but others there do and realized right away that I had been hurt.

In my dream, I got my coat and decided to leave the celebration. As I was leaving a friend came up to me to console me. Meanwhile another friend went to talk to the woman to inform her that what she had said had hurt me.

I woke up before anything was resolved in my dream. 

Now in reality I would like to think that I would not have left. I would like to think that this infraction would be easily bypassed. But dreams can feel so very real that I still felt some of that hurt after waking up.

Can you relate to anyone in this dream? Which one of these four would be you? 

Have your feelings ever been hurt? I'm sure they have been, even if unintentionally. How do you deal with being hurt?

Have you ever hurt someone else? What if you found out you hurt someone unintentionally?

Are you the sympathetic friend? What would you say to the hurt person? 

 Are you the "peacemaker?" Would you be the woman that went to talk to the woman that said the hurtful thing? What would you say?

I hope that my words can be encouraging and uplifting. 

Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 

All have sinned

All of us have a past. All of us have sinned and continue to be sinners. It is only because of God's grace and His wonderful mercy that I have hope of eternity with Him.

Each of us has someone to thank for bringing us to Christ. Many of us need to be thankful for those that help keep us on the right path. And all of us need to be that person for others. When you see someone outside of Christ, don't shake your head and tsk tsk and walk away. Maybe they are waiting to be found. Maybe they need to meet Jesus through you. 

Poor in Spirit

I have to be honest, Sometimes I have a little Pharisee inside of me. Now not all the time, but sometimes it's there.

I see people who have so many problems in their life and listen to them struggle and I wonder if God is trying to teach them something. I know, in fact, that He is; but I sound so judge mental when I think it. 

Sometimes I believe that we, Christians, view other people's struggles as some sort of punishment for their sin.

Frankly, I would do better to keep my eyes on my own struggles and sin. If we got we what we deserved for sinning. I would be flicked right off this spinning earth into oblivion. At least!

No, Jesus said,  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3 NASB) 

Poor in spirit refers to those who are so down, so defeated, so at the very rock bottom that they throw up their arms and cry out to God in surrender. "I can't do it. I see no way out of it. I'm giving it all to you, God."

Have you ever been there? Oh, I have! 

It's at those times that you realize that God IS God. 

This is when we are most grateful for mercy and grace. This is when are souls truly hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are at the end of our ropes hanging on by a thread.

When you know that grace and mercy are not only ENOUGH, but it's the ONLY stuff that you need. 

This is when you are most likely to help others, get involved in His service, be on fire! 

Why do we forget where we once were, where we could still be without the Love, Grace and Mercy of our savior?

No, don't shy away from those who are suffering in any way. And for goodness sake, don't act like a Pharisee, like you are too holy or too special to be like them. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Lord, keep me humble. Help me to know that I am nothing without Your Love for me, Your grace that saves, and Your mercy that helps me. And Lord help me go go tell everyone.

Teach your children

Sometimes I don't have very much patience when I look at today's young people. Many seem disrespectful and spoiled. 

They seem to have such a disposable mindset, if it doesn't work get rid of it. There is no fixing things anymore, including relationships.

Where do our children learn their values? From the daycare? Or the schools? Or in front of the tv? Friends?

Children learn what they see and hear. Who is setting the example for the young people in your lives? 

When it comes to kids, always take the high road. Set a good example. 

"Training up" a child involves way more than an hour a day. It takes a dedication and devotion on your part. Make an investment in your kids and grand kids. 

And pray for them daily. Let them hear you pray for them. What a sense of heartfelt encouragement it will be for them.

Then hold them accountable to the values that you are trying to instill in them.

Continue to pray for them as they leave the nest and spread their wings. This is the true test of your "training up." 

I still pray for my grown children. I pray that my examples and teaching them about God will  give them a strong desire to always want to have a committed relationship with Him.

What a job it is to raise children for God, don't take it lightly. But what a joy to be able to say, I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. (3 John 1:4 NASB)

Growing in Grace

I want you to think about something today. 

None of us are perfect. All of us live because of Grace. It is God's grace that keeps us going through the hard times and His word tells us that His grace is sufficient for us. 2 Cor. 12:9. No matter how rough things get, we have His grace, mercy and love to see us through.

But sometimes we forget that!

Sometimes we tell ourselves things like:

We are getting what we deserve

We are failures

We aren't good enough

Good things only happen to good people

Along with many other untruths that we then believe and live by.

Why do we settle for complacency? Why do we believe the lies?

What untruths are you telling yourself    And believing     That are keeping you from the fullest measure of God's grace?

Growing in grace happens as we are facing the hard times. It comes by trusting and making it, and then knowing we are stronger. Then repeating these steps all along life's path until we reach the end of our lives. 

It's not easy. It is a stretching (growing) for us. But don't throw in the towel when challenges are difficult. Ask God for more strength, more grace and then plunge ahead.

Strong, faithful Christians are not better than you, oh no. They probably have just learned to GROW in grace. 

Trust bigger today then you did yesterday. Move yourself further today then you did last week. 

Grace is God's miracle grow for us. Get growing.

Luke 2:52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52 NASB)

2 Peter 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. (2 Peter 3:18 NASB)

Bossy

Somebody once told me that I was bossy. Can you imagine that? Well, I couldn't either. Lol

I prefer to think that I have leadership qualities or organizational skills.

I do like to see things get done....now....not later! 

And I like to inspire others, motivate, lead, guide, direct, push or boss, choose your verb.

If I love you, if I care about you, I will always expect the best from you. Your best, not my best.

Everybody's best is different. 

I do like to lead. I do like to inspire. I don't want to boss or push.

I want you to want the best from yourself as well. Don't make excuses. Don't let yourself down.

Remember the only person you have to be better than is the person you were yesterday.

You won't always reach your expectations. You won't always reach your goals. But you only fail when you stop trying.

and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, (Hebrews 10:24 NASB)

Struggles

Struggles, we all have them. And it is important to rely on each other.

We all face uphill battles and it feels like we are pushing a boulder up the mountain. Whether we have health problems, employment problems, addictions, loneliness, low self esteem, family problems, rebellious children, we all struggle in some way with something.

We need to be encouraging each other through these things, sometimes they are too big to face alone. We need cheerleaders telling us we can make it, we need prayer warriors petitioning God on our behalf and sometimes we need physical strength and support helping us to push that rock up the hill.

Let's be there for each other. Pray for and support each other. I am praying for all of you and for the individual struggles that I am aware of. Please pray for me too.

Heart's Desire

What is your heart's desire? What is the thing you long for? 

Each of us have hopes and dreams and something that we long for. Maybe it's a new home, or owning our own home. Maybe it's a child, maybe a vacation. Maybe it's a hope for happiness or good health. Whatever it is, does it line up with God's will? Is it something that He would want for you as well?

I have learned over the years that sometimes when God does not give me something it is because He has something different and usually better in mind. I know that I can trust Him. 

Trust in God comes over time. You have to learn to trust in Him. But when you allow yourself to believe that He wants the best for you and that He is good, all the time, you will have a peace inside that cannot be described.

The verse of the day on the June calendar is, May He grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans! (Psalms 20:4 ESV)

Trust God with your desires and your plans. Seek His will and His wisdom and pray that He guides your ways.

The wedding

Young ladies and their mothers spend a lot of time planning weddings. Every tiny detail is thought out and planned for. Many times thousands of dollars are spent on these functions.

Personally, I would prefer if the young couples would plan their marriages. I wish they would anticipate and discuss every detail of their upcoming life after the ceremony. Save your money, you will need it when the children come, don't start your life together in debt. 

But anyway...

We are a bride, the church is the bride of Christ. We should be planning for that life we will have when Christ (the Groom) comes for us. We should be working out the details now to make sure this "wedding" is wonderful.

Are you excited about your upcoming wedding? I am.

Talking out both sides of your mouth

Have you ever heard the phrase, talks out both sides of his mouth?

I usually think of politicians. It refers to someone that tells me one thing then tells you another thing, trying to say whatever people want to hear.

I once knew a woman who would talk so bad behind other's backs but then act all friendly and loving toward them when they were around.

I know young people that talk all sweet and innocent around their parents but then talk completely different away from home with their friends.

I know some people that get all dressed up and come to church and talk  holy while there, but then during the week you wouldn't even know they go to church by their speech.

The Book of James talks about our tongue. Specifically how much trouble it causes if not carefully guarded. 

(The tongue,) With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. (James 3:9, 10 NASB)

God is not pleased with this behavior. Don't say what people "want" to hear, tell them what they "need" to hear. Tell them about the love and mercy of Jesus.

Choose Joy

Somedays I wake up grumpy, somedays I let him sleep.

Seriously, I don't wake up full of happy happy joy joy everyday. Today I am not "feeling it." Actually, it's been awhile since I just woke up feeling happy.

People say to me, "But I thought you had it all together." "I thought you were a godly woman."  "You are so blessed." 

Yes, and all of that may be true. But it doesn't mean that I have it easy.

How many of you would trade places with me and my life and my circumstances?

I can dwell on the bad. I could grumble and complain. I could party with pity. But all that does is make me feel worse.

I don't want that negativity for myself.

I would rather have joy.

Joy is a choice to be made each day. Even if I am not "feeling it " I can choose it and before long, I am really feeling it.

It 's not faking it til I make it.  It's true, real joy. But it comes from God. He gives me joy, because I have an attitude of gracious desire for it.

Thank You, Lord, for joy.